dirndl-lederhose-weltkarriere-the-oktoberfest-brand

🍻 O’zapft is! Oktoberfest kicked off on Saturday – and hardly any other festival has managed to captivate so many people around the world.

From Brazil to Bremen, from Beijing to Pforzheim: everywhere, people are celebrating the Oktoberfest brand in dirndls, lederhosen and with a blue-and-white diamond in their hearts.

In an interview with Uwe Schulz on WDR’s #morgenecho last year, I had the chance to explain why Oktoberfest has long been about more than just beer, pretzels and brass band music, and why Bavaria is such a wonderful place – a land of joie de vivre, identity and an exciting blend of tradition and modernity.

Uwe Schulz, WDR 5 Morgenecho (uw): Things are really kicking off today in Munich with the Oktoberfest. But we haven’t grown tired of marvelling at how the format is being imitated all over the world, as far afield as Cuba and Brazil. We were already in China this morning. And here in North Rhine-Westphalia, they can’t get enough of all the Oktoberfests, right down to Unna. There, on 11 October, it’s ‘o zapft is’ – original, fun and glitz at the Alte Heide. And I could list thousands more eventsIn der Regel sind Events bewusst inszenierte Verans... weiter, from Aachen via Münster to Stolberg.

I asked a man who has helped shape the image of the Oktoberfest – Fridolin Dietrich, a marketing expert in Munich. How did you manage to take the Oktoberfest everywhere?

Fridolin Dietrich (fd): Yes, because we evoke so many positive associations everywhere with the image of blue and white, the diamond pattern and Bavaria. I think that’s because, above all, it’s associated with positive emotions.

uw: Does the time of year perhaps work in your favour too, given that right now we don’t really have many occasions to get together – here and there there’s a harvest festival, then perhaps an ‘Altstadtkirmes’ as we call it, but an Oktoberfest is something you can really look forward to amidst all the summer parties and Christmas.

fd: Yes, I’m from Munich myself and, of course, there’s the Oktoberfest – we always call it the ‘fifth season’. So you come back from the holidays, and then it’s back to school or work, whatever everyone has to do. And then, as it were, the icing on the cake comes after the summer: the Oktoberfest. And as crazy as it always is, it’s the same again this year: tomorrow it’ll be 29 degrees in Munich for the opening of the Oktoberfest, with blue skies. So it lives up to all the clichés.

uw: At the same time, we do notice how sceptical people react when things get so clichéd. That’s the case in America, for example. When people think of Germany, the first things that spring to mind are lederhosen, dirndls and pork knuckle. And many people in Germany say, ‘No, that’s not us at all.’ Yet at the same time, they perpetuate this stereotype. When it comes to celebrations, do you particularly enjoy Carnival or Oktoberfest?

fd: Yes, that’s true. Funnily enough, a friend of mine from Bremen just told me that they now have a sort of Oktoberfest there too, and even the people of Bremen are now putting on lederhosen and dirndls to celebrate Oktoberfest at that event.

uw: Just look how open-minded the North Germans are. That would never happen in Bavaria – them celebrating some sort of kale festival.

fd: We’re particularly looking forward to welcoming the Bremen football fans to the Allianz Arena.

uw: Shall we delve a bit deeper? I mean, there’s always a core reason whyGrund für das Leistungsangebot von Dienstleistungen... weiter an image like that works so well. What might that be? I mean, what are we all imagining here in Bavaria that makes us say, ‘Oh, the Oktoberfest is quite nice’? Even when you consider how much a Maß costs, the occasional incidents of assault, the excesses of alcohol abuse and the like. Nevertheless, most people still say … ‘nice’.

fd: Yes, that’s exactly it: when people think of Bavaria and the Oktoberfest, they think of tradition, a certain way of life, or perhaps even a particular quality of life – how comfortable one feels with this Bavarian cosiness. I myself deal a lot with issues of identity in my professional life. And these are, of course, typical cultural identity markers that people associate with Bavaria – and, especially abroad, often with the whole of Germany. Whether it’s Oktoberfest, Neuschwanstein Castle, lederhosen, or celebrations in beer gardens and at beer tables. So Bavaria skilfully plays on so many themes. I’d even say it’s in this tension between tradition and modernity. Bavaria hasn’t got stuck in that cosy atmosphere.

uw: ‘Laptop and lederhosen’ has always been the saying.

fd: Exactly, exactly. And this laptop isn’t just a laptop; it’s also Audi and Google…

uw: Yes, it’s all about AI and noise-cancelling headphones these days…

fd: That tension is lovely; that’s what makes it so appealing. And identity markers – visible, visual identity markers – are very important for one’s image. And Bavaria, of course, has a wealth of very powerful images to draw on.

uw: Finally, as someone who knows Bavaria well, people often say that such major events have lost a bit of their soul. If you wanted to give someone a taste of the real Oktoberfest atmosphere, where would you take them?

fd: To the ‘Oidn Wiesn’. Why? At the Wiesn there’s an area called the ‘Oidn Wiesn’ or ‘Alte Wiesn’ – pronounced in High German – and there, alongside the beer tents, are old fairground rides, and people dance there – classical old Bavarian dances. There, they serve beer in stone mugs rather than glasses. That’s the sort of place many Munich locals go these days.

uw: And do you go by the motto that you can have fun without alcohol, but I’ll play it safe? Or have you ever been to a party like that completely sober?

fd: To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone. I always recommend having a proper first ‘Mass’ – perhaps not finishing it off completely. And the second one should be non-alcoholic. By then, everyone at the table is already in a good mood, and you can carry on enjoying yourself however you like.

uw: How do you always say it at the end? ‘Pfiat di.’ Right? Exactly. ‘Servus.’ Thanks for the interview. You’re welcome. See you soon. His name is Fridolin Dietrich, a brand consultant from Munich. We’ve been talking about the Oktoberfest as an export hit.” (Interview text has been lightly edited.)

Here you can listen to the original interview in German: